Another Chance
by Carrie Aulenbacher
Summary: My own spin on the aftermath between Sully and Michaela after the episode of 'Another Woman' in season two. It's far from the best, but it is my own idea that I'd like to share. When Michaela tells Sully she can't be with him, Sully fights everything inside of him to respect her space. But after weeks without contact, will their first talk lead to a reconciliation, or...
1. Chapter 1

Walking away from Michaela after the painful hug she'd just given him was about as hard a thing as Sully had done in years. With Catherine only a few minutes gone on the stagecoach back to her family, everything had seemed to have happened all at once. She'd given him her necklace, Michaela had stormed off, he'd chased her and they'd had it out in the field near the immigrant camp.

"I can't be with you right now." She'd said to him, tears brightly in her bewitching eyes. It had cut him as a blow in a fistfight. He had told her he'd always be there for her and given her a last hug, figuring it was pretty much a goodbye to their courting.

The sad gasp from Michaela as she'd accepted his hug made him not want to let go, but he'd forced himself to step back and turn away from her before he said anything more. He had ultimately wanted to have settled everything and moved forward with their courting, but her admission that he'd hurt her, shaken her trust in him made him realize things were too raw. If only he'd realized how his compassion for Catherine was going to have been interpreted by Michaela!

Walking off in the morning sunshine, he played the words over and over in his mind. He thought about the argument the night before at the homestead as well. She'd demanded to know if there had been another since Abigail had been gone. He'd walked away from her then, too.

Wolf caught up to him and trotted on ahead, anticipating his direction. But Sully was too wrapped up in his frustration over things to pay much attention. Before he knew it, the hour had gone by and he wasn't far from camp. Sounds of the younger children yelping and playing brought him out of his fugue. Regardless of the brightness of the day, Sully felt as if a black cloud were hanging over him, pushing him down. He took off his jacket in spite of the cool spring air and started chopping wood.

As he finished with his pile, he remembered a tree the last storm had brought down and went to get to work on it. The activity kept his mind quiet and the axe gave him somewhere to direct his pent up energy. Though a dull headache was creeping over him, Sully pushed himself to keep busy. He thought about going back to the homestead later and forcing Michaela to listen to him. But her words kept ringing in his ears. _'I can't be with you right now.'_

"Ha-ho, my brother." Cloud Dancing's voice came to him from behind just as he was getting ready to make another cut in the wood. Pausing in his swing, Sully turned behind him and saw his friend approaching. Then he realized the pile of pieces that had also accumulated behind him from his earnest work. "Do the spirits tell you of an early winter?"

The quip was something he'd come to cherish about his Cheyenne friend. Cloud Dancing had a way of bringing a lightness to their friendship that helped him not be so serious all the time. Looking again at the big pile, Sully smirked and stepped down from the log to shake hands. Wiping his brow, he rested his axe in the wood and grabbed the canteen to take a drink.

"I did not expect you back in camp so early. You will not see Shivering Deer in town today?" Cloud Dancing asked. Sully shook his head.

"Gone back East to her family." He said finally, worrying the handle of the axe with the palm of his hand. The medicine man could sense Sully was troubled by things. Ever since the army had slaughtered a small tribe out past Oil Creek, Sully had taken the sole survivor under his wing and tried his best to help her find her way. When he'd come into camp and explained things, although it was a tribe that Chief Black Kettle didn't associate with, he had the women of the tribe find an extra dress so that Sully could take her something clean to wear. Ever since then, he'd come and updated Cloud Dancing about things. But the past two days, Sully had been brooding and silent.

"It will be difficult." Cloud Dancing said, leaving the thought open-ended. The pause drew out between them and he realized that Sully didn't want to talk about things. Knowing how his friend was, Cloud Dancing crossed his arms and waited. Sully grabbed the axe and turned back to his work. Watching the wood chips fly as Sully began swinging rhythmically, the medicine man decided to wait until the evening to talk about why his friend was so quiet.

As Snow Bird took away the last of the food that night, Cloud Dancing's sons sat around the fire joking and chatting with each other. Sully had not stopped by to eat with them, and the medicine man grew concerned. He watched the treeline for Wolf to appear, but things remained silent. When she had finished inside the tent, she came out to find her husband smoking his pipe thoughtfully.

"The spirits speak loudly to my husband tonight." She said. "He is very silent to listen to all they have to say." She sat next to him. He smiled warmly at her, always so comforted in knowing how well she could read his moods. Putting the pipe down, he told her of his encounter earlier in the day with Sully. She had known all that had happened from the beginning.

"Something troubles him." He told her at last.

"Then it will trouble you until you go to see him." She suggested. Taking his wife's hand, Cloud Dancing smiled and held it close to her heart. Nothing more needed to be said between them. In the past years of having Black Wolf in their lives, Snow Bird knew that his spirit had joined in a powerful way with her husband. They were truly like brothers, even if Black Wolf was a white man. To others in the tribe who did not know him as closely, he was Sully. But to her and her husband, between just the two of them, he was still Black Wolf.

She watched him walk off to the trees, and went back inside to put away his pipe.

When he reached Sully's fire, it was clear nothing had been prepared. Wolf was nowhere to be found and Sully was just changing his shirt, coming out of his lean-to with a piece of jerky hanging out of his mouth. Cloud Dancing sat himself down at the fire and helped to stoke the embers as Sully finished dressing and joined him. It was clear he was exhausted from working so hard all day, but there was a different kind of tiredness in his eyes that bordered on pain as well.

"Tree took longer than I thought." Sully said in way of excuse. "I didn't realize how late it was." His voice was void of the usual tone.

"Spirits say you work too hard. That is why you did not see the sun go down." Still poking at the fire, Cloud Dancing waited out the silence this time, knowing his friend had tired himself out after a long day. Sully gave a sigh, almost on cue with the medicine man's thoughts. He couldn't avoid it any longer.

"Dr. Mike and I...naōevoto." Sully tried to use the Cheyenne word for 'quarrel' as he didn't want to say he had fought with her. In fact, throughout the day, he had tried to understand what all had happened between them and was at a loss. Cloud Dancing looked puzzled, so Sully continued. "I don't quite know how to explain it to ya. It wasn't an argument, at least she said she wasn't mad..." As his thought trailed off, he disgustedly threw a log into the fire. Sparks jumped and danced overhead.

"What happened?" Cloud Dancing asked. Sully ran his hands through his hair and groaned aloud. He'd been wondering the same thing. What had come over him since that day that Catherine had kissed him in the clinic? He kept his head down, rubbing his temples to make the tension stop. He'd wished he'd made it back in time for a proper dinner. He hoped he was just overly tired and hungry from chopping the tree all afternoon.

"Shivering Deer kissed me." Sully flat out got right to the point. "Brian walked in on it, told Michaela, and we argued about it. I told Shiv...Catherine that my heart belonged to Dr. Mike before she left town, but...Michaela is still mad that it happened." Closing his eyes, he tried to will the tension away.

"You said she said she was not mad." Cloud Dancing pointed out.

"Well, she said she wasn't mad today when we talked. But the other night she really was." Sully said. Rubbing his head again, he closed his eyes and hoped Cloud Dancing would leave soon so he could try to lie down. It was hard to think about everything again while his head was pounding.

"And how are you?" He asked in his comforting voice. Sully looked over at his friend.

"What?" He asked, not sure he heard correctly.

"How are you, my brother?" Cloud Dancing asked again. "It is something that did not just happen to her...it also happened to you." That his Cheyenne friend was concerned with how Sully felt about things took him a bit by surprise. Brian and Michaela had been so upset with him and Catherine had been so sad and resigned in leaving that he'd only focused on the hurt he'd caused everyone. He hadn't turned his attention to himself at all.

"I don't know." He whispered. "My head hurts from thinking about it all day."

"Did her attention come with kindness? Did this come openly?" It was a strange question. Sully could only shake his head. He sighed, weary of the pressure in his head.

"We were just talkin'. She didn't feel good and I helped her upstairs so she could rest. She was upset that she didn't belong anywhere and that folks in town didn't understand her..."

"They do not understand _you_."

"I didn't expect her to do it. She'd been so afraid of everyone and feelin' poorly that I just wanted to talk to her about how she was special. Before I could say that, she...kissed me." The two men sat in silence, taking in the story. Cloud Dancing knew not to speak. He could sense that the answer was inside Sully and that he just needed to talk things out. After a few minutes, Wolf came and laid between the two to warm his nose by the fire.

"I didn't take things like ta think she was sweet on me. Michaela was upset I didn't tell Catherine about us courtin', but why should I talk about that when it never occurred to me that I needed to say that? I don't go around talkin' about private things to strangers." Frustrated, he tossed an errant stick into the fire. "Ain't much for talkin' at all." Getting up to find his water skin, Sully took a long drink before bringing it over to offer to his friend. As he stood over the fire, he stared at the flames, feeling the frustration burn just as bright inside his heart.

"However Brian said it, she didn't even ask for me to tell her what really...happened." Sully searched Cloud Dancing's eyes at that remark. Standing finally, Cloud Dancing pulled out a pouch he often kept with him of willow bark. He offered it to his tired friend, who stared at it a few seconds before reaching out for it.

"You need to rest. When she wants the truth, she will come to find it." Clasping forearms in the traditional handshake, Cloud Dancing smiled kindly.

"I should go find-"

"She must seek the truth before she will hear it. Spirits say to stay with the tribe." To Sully, the words felt more like a command than advice. He nodded, the two men parted and Sully busied himself preparing some tea.


	2. Chapter 2

After a week, Sully was absolutely stir crazy in camp. Other than fishing in the nearby rivers and hunting with Cloud Dancing, he did not go into town for anything. The headache had lasted two full days and nights before it finally went away. After that, the only pain was in his heart. He felt the guilt of his actions like a heavy load across his shoulders. But everyday there was something else that needed to be done. Finally, a week later, he slipped off to watch for her from across the meadow.

Seeing Matthew leading the wagon into town made him stand up from his hidden place to watch her and the kids approach the clinic. She was too far off to see the look on her face, but her hair tumbled down over her shoulder as she got down from the wagon and it made the ache for her twist in his heart.

From out of nowhere a hand clapped him on the shoulder and spun him around in the thicket. It was Cloud Dancing. In the time it took him to turn Sully, the tomahawk was drawn and ready. Seeing that it was his friend that had surprised him, he blew out a sharp breath and closed his eyes.

"What are you doin'?" Sully asked, trying not to show how startled he was.

"My chief would speak with you." The medicine man answered. Then, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, he added. "Spirits say it is not you who must go to her...but she must come to you."

"After what I did to her? She's never gonna talk to me again. If I don't go apologize-"

"You did tell me of your apology. You said she never asked what happened. You and I do not always understand each other. We give each other space to seek understanding. As friends, you must do the same with Dr. Mike." Shoving his tomahawk back into his belt with disgust, Sully grumbled under his breath and stomped off back to camp to help Black Kettle, although his heart was not in it.

The morning that Michaela received word from Catherine's family that she had arrived safely and that the medical report was most appreciated, she realized that it had been three weeks since she had seen Sully. They had been three of the longest weeks of her life. Everyone had noticed that Sully had disappeared and that she had been at the clinic almost non-stop to fill her days with work. She downplayed everything to Dorothy and the children, insisting it was a good break between them. That time apart was giving them both perspective on things.

But no-one knew the sleepless nights and the pillow soaked with tears. No-one heard of her dreams at night, dreams filled with Sully coming back or with him leaving her forever. Though some days she burned with righteous indignation over how he had broken her trust and her heart, it wore her down that the only person she'd ever considered a friend...was gone.

The worst part was that she knew he wasn't gone. He wasn't far away at all. Snow Bird had told her that he stayed in the camp the same as always. Although the news had initially burned her, as time wore on, the anger subsided and simply left her confused. Didn't their relationship mean enough to him to come and set things right? And then she remembered that she had told him she couldn't be with him. He had been the one who had said he would always be there and had hugged her goodbye.

The night after receiving the telegram from Baltimore, Michaela promised herself she would ride out to see him in the morning. She needed her friend back.

As Flashed carried her into camp the following morning, Michaela felt her stomach knot. The night had been filled with rain and there was a damp tone to the day. Even with her long leather coat, she felt the chill and hoped it wasn't a foreboding sign.

Snow Bird greeted her warmly and they chatted by the horses a few minutes. Although she did not have the power of her husband's medicine, she knew her friend was not doing well without Sully in her life. She had watched the strange white man withdraw more and more in the past two weeks as he kept trying to follow the medicine man's instructions. Knowing she should stay out of it, Snow Bird found herself unable to hold her tongue.

"You will speak to him?" She asked finally, right before Michaela excused herself to go attend to the other members of the tribe. Michaela sighed and searched her friends face for advice.

"I'm not sure what to say." She held out her hands in futility.

"He will not share our meals and he will not speak to Cloud Dancing any more. His fire burns all night, every night." The hurt in Michaela's eyes was palpable as Snow Bird shared what she knew. "My husband says it is like the first season that he came to us." Although Michaela had never heard about Sully's beginnings with the Cheyenne, she knew that not eating or sleeping couldn't be good. The information only made her anxiety rise. Nodding with a sad smile, she left Snow Bird and visited the other tents.

An eye was ever on the edges of camp as she looked for a familiar form that wasn't there. When she finished her rounds and had still not seen Sully anywhere, she thought of leaving. But the pain in her heart wouldn't let her rest. Feeling hurt, conflicted yet determined, she tied her bag to her saddle and walked back through camp to Sully's lean-to.


	3. Chapter 3

With his back to the clearing, Sully was concentrating on sharpening his tomahawk when Michaela approached. He'd seen her moving between the tents and had purposely turned away to try and do what Cloud Dancing had instructed. As much as he'd been aching to see her, he could not throw away the weeks of distance by rushing over and making things worse. His friend had insisted that Sully let her work through things and so he had to wait a few more anxious minutes to find out if his patience had helped her come to a different perspective.

When the twigs finally snapped behind him and gave away her footsteps, Sully's heart started pounding. He'd slept poorly the past few nights and he'd felt on edge all morning. Little had he known when he'd laid down last night that the rosewater he'd been missing would greet him a few short hours later. It made him sick inside to smell it. She was so close. He missed that smile more than he'd ever remembered missing Abigail's smile. Would today be the day that they could look each other in the eye and find their way back to each other?

"Sully?" She asked, her voice tentative. Her throat felt so dry that she didn't trust herself to say more. In just his shirt and buckskins, the warm brown of his hair looking so handsome against the linen of his shirt - she felt herself holding her breath at the sight of him. Would he turn and glare at her? Was he even going to look at her at all?

Quickly turning as if he hadn't been expecting her for the last half hour, Sully kept his face open. Setting down his tools, he stood to meet her gaze. Without a word, he kept himself in check to see where she would go with things. _'Don't scowl at her.'_ He reminded himself.

"May we talk?" She asked. Seeing two braves lingering at the edge of camp to catch a glimpse of what might happen, he held his hand out to her and motioned to follow him down a trail where they could be alone. Seeing his silent offer as a good sign, Michaela eagerly followed him through a rough deer trail to the stream where he usually fished. She was totally unaware that they had been watched.

His feet, silent on the leaves, deftly picked their way through the trail with ease. His broad shoulders slipped through the saplings as if he himself were part of the herd of deer that had created the path. She caught herself keeping up with him just to be close to him for the first time in almost a month. Feeling how much she missed him wore at the planned conversation in her head. She had wanted to sit and rationally go over things and get to the truth the same way she would deduce a medical diagnosis. But when he stopped in front of her suddenly to move a large branch out of the way, she stopped just short of touching him and felt her heart leap in her throat at being so close.

Stepping aside, he let her walk to a large log in the clearing first before getting the branch out of the way and sitting next to her. Knowing they were all alone for the first time in so long made the lingering headache manifest. Was this going to be what Cloud Dancing had predicted? Or was this just going to be goodbye? Could he stand to sit next to her and not touch her? Sully swallowed hard.

She sat and looked at her hands in her lap while the silence stretched between them. He waited because to see her so not composed was new to him. Michaela usually had the right word instantly and was always talking on and on, especially when it was a subject she was passionate about. Little did she know that she'd had this talk with him a hundred times in her head day and night and had only seen arguments ending in their separation. No scenario that she'd practiced came out right. She was afraid to say anything because everything led to fighting.

"I don't know what to say." She squeaked. "I miss you." She whispered.

"Say...you're ready to listen." He whispered back, tentatively reaching out to put a hand on her hands as she wrung them nervously in her lap. Freezing at his touch, she took in the warmth of his hand and tried not to get too caught up in the thought that he could have touched Catherine in the same way. As his rough hand settled on hers lightly, she could only nod in reply.

"Tell me how you came to find out about what happened." Sully said.

"She told me you'd given her a necklace and that she was staying with you." She answered.

"No...about the kiss." He prompted gently.

"Brian told me." She said simply, clenching at the memory.

"Tell me what he told you." Sully asked again.

"That he saw you kissin'." She looked up at him, feeling her body tense at hearing the words come out of her mouth. Sully took a deep breath, Cloud Dancing's words ringing in his ears.

"What exactly did he say?" Sully pushed the issue. "How all did he describe everything?"

"I just said all he said...he saw you kissin'." She blinked, thinking Sully's only defense after three weeks was going to be to tell her that Brian lied to her. Michaela felt herself rankle.

"Okay, and after that, when did we see each other next?" Sully asked, knowing exactly what had happened that night.

"I saw you that night at the homestead and we argued outside the barn." Her heart was pounding and she felt herself getting caught up in the emotion of the moment all over again.

"You asked me if Catherine was staying with me, if I gave her my necklace, and if kissin' her was simply a show of gratitude." He said, hoping and praying she would stay calm enough to listen to what he was getting at.

"Sully, yes, believe me, I've run over our argument numerous times. I remember every single word that was said." She pulled her hands away from him and turned to face him.

"How about the words that weren't said?" He asked. Michaela instantly thought of her question he'd left unanswered about possible other women. She blinked and hesitated, suddenly not sure if she really wanted to know the answer. "There was something that didn't happen that night, something that _wasn't_ said."

"Sully, I know that I asked-" She started, but he held up his hand.

"I'm not sayin' Brian lied and I'm not sayin' it didn't happen, but when one friend hears something about another, what is usually the most important thing that friend can do?" He asked, his head pounding with worry that she'd get too upset again. _'C'mon, Michaela, listen to me.'_ He pleaded from the depths of his soul.

"Ask them for the truth." She said simply. She watched the passion in his eyes as he leaned in closer to her.

"Yes. You asked if kissin' her was gratitude, then we started shouting at each other. But you never asked me what exactly happened." He saw the confusion in her eyes heat up, and felt his heart pounding in his ears. She stood abruptly from the log.

"Please do tell me Sully all about kissing another woman." She said, her voice raised a notch.

"You went off of one word from Brian and I have no idea what scenario you created in your mind, but..." Sully stood, his voice ragged with emotion. "...you're so important to me that it would mean a lot to have you...listen to me...about what happened." His voice trailed off to a whisper and he felt himself scowling at her, even though he fought it. He felt like he was holding his breath, the air around them was electric. The worry in his eyes was so painful to see, that she had to sit down and look away to keep from crying. He was right; she'd started arguing without giving him any platform on which to tell her his side of things. She'd been too mad to let him have any leg to stand on. She'd felt he didn't deserve it. Now she knew he did deserve time and space to be heard.

"What happened?" She asked. Promptly sitting back down, Sully raked his hair back. He felt like it was his only shot.

"I took her upstairs to rest after she had a fit in front of the church. She was so shaky it was hard to get her up the stairs. She was talking about how she didn't fit in, and that no-one wanted her anywhere. Like she felt like nothin'. All I could think about was when I came back here...and how all I wanted to do was..." Sully stopped. "...not be anywhere anymore." He'd never told her he'd wanted to die beside Abigail's grave and he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Taking a ragged breath, he continued.

"It was the last thing in the world I'd ever expect. All I wanted ta say was something comfortin' so she could calm down and rest. I tried to tell her that she wasn't nothin', that she was of two peoples and that it was an honor the spirits shared with few. She had the ability to help white people understand Indians because she'd lived to see how peaceful they are. She interrupted me to say that at least we were the same. I agreed with her, thinking she was coming around to see the point I wanted ta make..." He held his hands out, feeling sick.

"That's when she kissed me."

Getting down on his knees suddenly, he got in front of Michaela and took her hands. Looking up, he could see tears in her eyes and he knew he was hurting her, but at least she was being quiet while he told the entire truth she'd never heard before. She searched his face.

"I didn't know she was gonna do that, and I would be a liar if I told you I didn't wonder what it would feel like. I'm just a man - I make mistakes. The instant her lips touched mine, it felt so horribly wrong. And I pulled away. You know all the beds face the door and with her sitting on the bed, I had to have my back to the door to look at her. Brian would only have seen the back of my head. He didn't lie and I'm not either. I ain't never lied ta you, Michaela. _I pulled away from that kiss._ "

Her silence as he spoke shattered him and after he said those words, he hung his head, practically resting it in her lap. She managed to take a breath and see him crumpled before her, penitent and humbled by his mistake. The crown of his head was so close that his brown curls just barely tickled the edge of her hand. She wanted to reach out, to pull her hand free and touch his hair, make him look up at her. He'd pulled away.

"You interrupted everything I tried to say that night, Michaela. You never let me tell you how upset I was over everything, how _ashamed_ I was to have not understood what she was feeling. It was last year with Colleen all over again." Remembering how Sully hadn't seen Colleen's crush on him, it did occur to Michaela that he wasn't all that good at seeing the effect he could have on a woman. Sully was never the kind of man to look at himself that way, as some men would do. She thought of Hank and how he knew the effects he had on ladies and how he would turn it to his advantage every time. Sully was nothing like that. He didn't even know the full effect he had on her...yet.

Pulling her hand free, she reached for the side of his face, but he wouldn't' look up at her.

"It happened after Abigail died, too...and I..." She could feel his whole body trembling. He shook his head as if to say he couldn't go on with that story. Turning his face up, she could see he was crying over so many memories and regrets.

"Forgive me." He whispered. "Please." She reached for his shoulders to pull him back up onto the log next to her. He raised himself, but clamped onto her shoulders as well, turning her to face him. "It's killin' me that I hurt ya and I can't live..." He could feel her shaking as badly as he was and he was grateful for the private fishing hole so nobody could see him come undone.

"Oh, Sully." Michaela said, pulling him close, pulling him into a hug she'd been dreaming about for three weeks. Taking in his side of things and seeing his pain made her realize their mutual error.

"You don't gotta keep courtin' me." He said real low into her hair as they hugged. "I can just be a friend, if ya let me earn your trust." He ran a hand through her hair, desperate to touch her one last time before she pulled away again. The admission would only be a weight off of his shoulders if she would just tell him it was ok.

Turning her head, she kissed him first, initiating the contact as her way of asking for an apology for not keeping calm enough and asking him for the whole story. The zing of their contact made him wrap his arms around her to keep from falling over. She was kissing him and in an instant, the guilt and shame lifted.

"I'd rather you and I resume...our courting...if...I mean, that is..." She whispered in his arms. He kissed her again, pulling away only to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." He said again. Michaela rested a hand on his chest, feeling beads under her palm. Looking down, she was relieved to see only his own strand of beads there. Catherine's necklace was gone. She looked up but he said nothing. Giving him a small smile, he gave a relieved smile in return. Feeling utterly exhausted, he did nothing but caress her face and hair a minute, knowing there was nothing else to say.

"Between last year and Colleen...and this spring and my jealousy over Dorothy teaching you to dance...now this..." She began, not quite sure of her train of thought.

"I ain't got eyes for nobody but you, Michaela Quinn. Let's just put it all out of our heads and see if we can't build this thing I feel growing between us. Won't ever hurtcha again." His blue eyes were so bewitching and she could feel the honesty and love coming from him that she nodded and gave him a smile that sent his spirit reeling.

Walking back to his lean-to, hand in hand, Michaela felt that she'd done the right thing. She sent up a prayer that they continued to be able to hold hands just like this...forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Snow Bird was waiting by Michaela's horse when the two of them walked back into the clearing together. She smiled at her new doctor friend. Snow Bird had watched Black Wolf come back from the darkest place a man could be and she saw that they had worked things out for the best. His face was as happy as she'd seen it in months. She knew the talk had gone well between them.

"Black Wolf bid her a quiet and simple goodbye, walking off to find Cloud Dancing, she presumed. She beamed a smile and beckoned Michaela to rush over and tell her everything.

"The spirits helped you find the right words." Snow Bird said. Michaela gave her hand, which still felt warm from Sully's touch.

"I think they helped me listen." Michaela corrected.

"He will be back around my fire, then." She touched her friends arm. "He has not eaten with us in many days. Maybe he will join you again?"

"I certainly hope so." Michaela beamed. "I could feel his honesty and see how my jealousy only made everything worse."

"The Great Spirit brought you both together for a reason. You will both grow stronger now." They hugged and Michaela felt grateful for her Cheyenne friend's kind words. She felt light as she prepared the ride back to town. She could still see him kneeling in the dirt before her, still feel his lips upon hers. She knew the truth and knew he truly did love her.

Sully found Cloud Dancing just outside the Chief's tent, speaking to one of the elders about the medicine woman. Michaela had taken a new salve and the elder was expressing how Cloud Dancing needed to work with her more to help spread understanding about the old ways. As the medicine man excused himself to step away with Sully, he clapped his brother on the shoulder. There was a brightness in his eyes that had been absent for weeks and he knew that everything had turned around for his friend.

"That early winter you asked me about? It's not going to happen." Sully said, instantly drawing a quick smirk from his friend. Cloud Dancing clapped him on the shoulder again as they made their way back to his tent. He instantly knew what he referred to.

"You will not need all that wood now." He said in a teasing voice.

"Spirits had me worried." Sully admitted. They stopped and Sully realized that they were standing before a pile near Cloud Dancing's own tent. They looked at it, then exchanged glances. The Indian's eyes sparkled.

"Now you know to be prepared." Cloud Dancing said with total seriousness. Between them, nothing more needed to be said.

**END**


End file.
